For many mRNA skeptics, the dead vaccine is the way out of the crisis. Now, of all people, the manufacturer of the vaccine has caused a stir.
A new technique in vaccine production has raised many concerns. Even if the mRNA vaccines by Biontech Pfizer and Moderna have been adequately researched, many vaccine skeptics prefer to wait for the dead vaccine. As the “heute” reported, the dead vaccine of the US company Novavax is to be approved this month, but one should not wait.
Advice on waiting would be “ethically unacceptable”
Thomas Lingelbach is the head of the pharmaceutical company Valneva and played a key role in the development of the inactivated vaccine VLA2001. However, he advises people not to wait for his or any other vaccine. “I do not advise anyone to wait for our vaccine, that would be ethically unacceptable,” said Lingelbach in an interview with Der Spiegel.
Lingelbach himself has already been immunized three times with the vaccine of the competition, that of Biontech Pfizer. In view of the impending omicron wave, there is no time to lose, a vaccination is crucial. His urgent appeal is therefore “get vaccinated”. Valneva’s approval within the EU could take weeks, if not months.
For Langelbach, Valneva is also not a competitor of Biontech Pfizer or Moderna. Rather, the dead vaccine is a “supplement” to get the pandemic under control. “If our product convinces more people than before to be vaccinated, it will help everyone. Then we have done our job,” said the company boss.
Why is the dead vaccine not yet on the market in the EU? Errors and delays occurred again and again during the production process. The small company sizes of the pharmaceutical companies cannot be compared with the possibilities of Biontech Pfizer, Moderna or Astrazeneca.
The EU has already signed the contracts with the corporations. After approval, Valneva will deliver up to 60 million and Novovax even up to 100 million doses in the European Union. There is currently a lack of understanding on Facebook that the vaccine has not yet been approved. A user refers to the 90 percent effectiveness of the vaccine. What he forgets – the vaccine from Biontech Pfifer is even said to be 95 percent effective.
Inactivated vaccines got their name because they contain killed pathogens. The body recognizes these as foreign and forms antibodies as a result. This method is also used for other vaccines such as those against flu, polio, rabies and hepatitis A and B.
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